Gummed tape



oval UH HOOm March 19, 1940. A. P. KRUEGER 2,194,309

- GUMMED TAPE Filed March 18, 1937 INVENTOR. h ALFRED RKRUIGER 5 BY hi.4 *i m.

DH liUUlT Patented Mar. 19, 1940 GUMIWED TAPE Alfred P. Krueger,Stratford, Conn, assignor to Theodore H. Krueger, Stratford, Conn.

Application March 18, 1937, Serial No. 131,580

3 Claims. (Cl. 2815) This invention relates to improvements in gummedtape to be dispensed in gummed tape serving machines and moreparticularly to printed tape or strip labels which will issue from Thusthe label may have a red ink background, whereas the wrapping paperunderneath may be grey. Any such color difference results in the hole ormultilation showing very prominently 5 the machine out between theprinted portions d not on y detracts greatly from the appear- 5 thereof,and present a complete tape section or ance of the label by vi the efect of a scar" label which may be in the form of a, rectangular or bloton its surface, but also interferes seriously figure or the like inwhich there are no visible with e adin of the teXt. holes, notches orother undersirable features. A major object of this invention istherefore The feeding of the gummed printed tape for to provide a su eap o abe w h w ll 10 wrapping packages or labeling in which th issuefrom the dispensing machine as a complete printing covers a, specifiedportion of the tape label With the printed material intact and which orconstitutes a label has frequently been found will possess no Visibleholes, p a ns, or unsatisfactory either for the reason that the disetherunsightly mutile-tions. as s s ed o pensing machine was not properlyadapted to cut a p e or used for y other p p e o w ch 5 the tapeaccurately at predetermined positions it y be pp or when the machine wasso properly adapted for It is further the object of this in ention tothe reason that the printed labels or the repeats Provide a Ineans ofstr t on which will have of th printed copy" on th tape were t theeffect of making it possible to deliver from formly spaced. Thus theundesirable feature of the dispensing meehihe a complete label with 20tape or labels cut in the printed portion rather the printed materialintact. even o h the th t th d thereof h arisen spacing of the printedlabels on the tape is not It h b Suggested t overcome t difuniform. Inother words, to provide a means for ficulty by providing a guide hole inthe tape at registration which will correct the non-unispaced intervalsand a feeler device which is senformity of the spacing of printed matteon p 25 sitive to the guide hole in the tape, which feeler or labels inaddition to correcting r ularity in actuates a tape feeding mechanism sothat the feeding on e p of the d pensercomplete printed tape or label isdispensed from In the patent of Michael J West, 2,021,038 th hi grantedon November 12, 1935, there is described For reasons which have to dowith the conand claimed a tape serving mechanism in which 30 t ti andfunctioning of t dispensing a feeler device when encountering a hole inthe chine, this guide hole cannot usually be placed pe causes a grippingdevice or tape feeding between adjacent labels where it would be outmechanism to feed tape from the e. y of the way of the printed matter,but must usualspacing e holes in t p a p e mined 1y be located somewherewithin the printed area t e apart the amount of tape fed upon a full ofthe label itself. This is particularly true in throw of the feed devicecan be ated- The the case of medium-sized and large-sized labels holesin the tape, however. e subject to the disas compared to very smalllabels. This f d advantage that the same interfere with the printlocating of the hole within the printed area has s matter which isusually P e 0n e pe,

two very serious disadvantages from the standand moreover when the labelis pasted on the 40 point of marketing such tape. package an unsightlyefiect is produced, especial- The first disadvantage is that amodification or 1y if t paper in which the Package is apped revision ofthe printing is necessary to avoid any is of a different color than thep of t t t being printed ever t spot where In my present invention Iobviate these drawthe hole has to be located. This interferes with a ksby providing tape in the form of a roll 45 the readability as well aswith the pleasing comor continuous strip in which weakened or depositionof the text. pressible areas are formed at spaced points ca- The secondserious disadva tage t th ap pable of yielding under the pressure of thefeeler keting of such tape with punched holes is the device, but in theproduction of which no part frequent color difference between the labeland of the paper of the strip is removed as would be 50 the surface towhich it is applied; for example, the case in punching a hole. In apreferred ema white label pasted to brown wrapping paper. bodiment of sin ention U or V-shaped in- Such color difference can also be causedwhere cisions are made in the tape at intervals, subthe papers aresimilar but where a different colstantially coinciding with theintervals between ored ink is used to print a reverse plate label.

label impressions or so-called copy," the U or V-shaped tongues or flapsthus formed having substantially the same position label by labelrelative to the so-called copy, whether the copy appears on the tape atuniform or non-uniform intervals. When the tape is fed through themachine, the feeler device instead of functioning through a hole asdisclosed in the West patent, slightly bends the flap out of the planeof the tape. Since these flaps yield to the slight pressure of thefeeler, said feeler actuates the tape feeding mechanism so as to propelthe tape through the machine. When the strip of tape so fed passesthrough the moistening element of the dispensing machine, the flap,having been only momentarily and slightly depressed out of the plane ofthe tape, again resumes its original position in the plane of the tapeand is moistened in the same manner that the whole body of the label ismoistened, and therefore when the strip of tape so fed, moistened, andcut is applied to the package, the flap is pasted evenly with the restof the tape so that the tape or label presents a smooth appearance inwhich the flap is scarcely noticeable except on careful examination.This result enables the arrangement of the printed matter on the tape tobe made without regard to the position of the flap, although it is afeature of the invention to space the incision with regard to theprinted matter in order that each piece of tape cut may contain acomplete mes sage.

Preferably the tape is placed in the machine so that the flaps pointaway from the direction of travel as this is a surer means of bringingthe slightly depressed flap back into the plane of the tape than if theflaps pointed in the direction of travel. However, it is possible tomodify the tape serving machine in such a way that the flaps are broughtback into the plane of the tape as the tape is being fed through themachine even though the flaps point in the direction of travel of thetape.

Any suitable means for cutting the flaps may be utilized; for instance,the use of an appropriately shaped knife incorporated in the printingpress in which the tape is printed, as will be understood by thoseskilled in the art. The cutting of the flaps by means associated withthe printing press or otherwise directly coordinated with the printingoperation so that the flaps are accurately positioned with respect toeach repeat of the printed design is important. By this means correctcutting of the strip with respect to the printed design is assuredwhether the spacing of the printed design is uniform or not.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appearfrom the detailed description of the gummed tape in its preferred formand its preferred application to the dispensing machine.

In the drawing forming part of this specifica tion:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the tape dispensing device partly brokenaway, showing one type of feeding mechanism to which this invention isadapted.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the feeding device in perspective,showing the engagement of the feeler with the registering device of thetape.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a roll of the improved gummed tapeshowing a preferred form of tongue or depressible area situated atpredetermined intervals on the tape in relation to the printed matter.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a package or box with my improved labelapplied thereto.

One type of dispensing machine to which the improved tape may be appliedis disclosed in the West patent heretofore mentioned and comprisesgenerally a pair of side frame members connected by suitable crossmembers, the frame members supporting a roll of tape l4 therebetween.The roll of tape rests on a bottom strip or supporting pan IS, the tapebeing arranged to roll rearwardly as the tape i8 is drawn forward, thusrolling the tape roll 14 against one of the cross members which with thesupporting pan I6 act as a frictional brake to prevent overrunning ofthe tape.

The inclined face of the machine is provided with a tape guide to guidethe tape l8 therethrough. The tape passes over a strip receiving apron22 at the top of the machine, then down the tape guide 20 and finallypasses out of the machine past the tape severing device 24 and throughthe moistening couple consisting of the pivoted pressure plate 26 andbrush 28. The brush 28 is normally adapted to rest in the waterreservoir 30 from which it draws water by capillary attraction andsufficiently moistens the gummed surface of the tape 18 after the tapepasses the severing device.

This general construction of the machine without the feeler mechanismhereinafter de-.

may be rolled either with the printed portion on the outside as shown inFigure 3 or with the gummed portion on the outside as shown in Figure 1,depending upon the construction of the dispenser.

One type of feeding mechanism appliable to the dispensing of thisimproved tape is described in the above mentioned patent to West. It isgenerally indicated at 32 and may preferably be in the form of asubstantially rigid carriage surrounding the tape guide 20 and slidablethereon and comprising a rear face 34, inclined to permit easy grasp bythe operator and a tape gripping dog 36, having a serrated nose 38 whichcooperates with a raised section 40 in the under surface of the tapecarriage to grip the tape. The gripping lever or dog 36 may be pivotedon a suitable cross shaft 42 so that when free to drop, it will contactthe tape l8 against the raised portion 40 on the tape carriage to feedthe gummed tape forward when the carriage is advanced.

The movement of the tape gripping dog to insure the delivery of acomplete unit of length of the tape is controlled by a feeler finger 44secured to the gripper lever 36. This feeler normally contacts with thesurface of the gummed tape and holds the gripper lever out of tapeengagement. When the feeler 44 reaches the V or U-shaped cut or otherdepressible area in the tape as shown in Figure 2, it will press down'against the flap 3 formed by this out, which flap will yield to slightpressure and by its connection with the gripper lever 36 will contactwith the tape and on forward movement of the tape carriage will feedtape from the feeding end of the machine according to the spacing of theflaps along the tape.

Since the flap caused by the U or V-shaped cut in the tape is onlyslightly depressed out of the plane of the tape, and since the paperstock and the dry gum coating give the flap considerable stiifness orspringiness, it will reassume its position in the plane of the tape asit passes under the pivoted pressure plate 26 and over the moisteningbrush 28 and will be moistened by the brush 28 in the same manner as therest of the tape issuing from the machine. While the flap may pointeither away from the direction of the motion of the tape or in thedirection of the motion of the tape or at an angle thereto, it ispreferable for the flap to point away from the motion of the tape as themotion of the tape through the parts of the dispensing machine tends toassist the flap in reassuming its original position in the plane of thetape more easily than when the flap points in the direction of themotion of the tape. When the moistened tape is applied to the surface ofa package 4 or other surface to which the moistened tape is to beapplied, the flap which has also been moistened will adhere as firmly tothe surface of the package or other surface as the rest of the tape.

While I have made reference to the West patent as showing one means fordispensing the tape embodying this invention, it is not my intention tolimit myself or the scope of my invention to its application inconnection with the West device, attention being called to the fact thatWests device, whether used in connection with a hole or with my flap, isrendered operative as a feeding device only when a feeler, by means ofsaid hole or flap, permits a gripping or feeding device to function.Wests device, therefore, does not feed any kind of tape except such tapeas has perforations or flaps or other depressible areas. On the otherhand, my flap tape can also be used in connection with a different typefeeding mechanism, for instance, a feeding mechanism which can also beused to feed ordinary unperforated, unpunched or untongued tape.

Furthermore, while I have heretofore referred to this invention asrelating to a continuous roll Search Hoon of pregummed labels, the gumon which is dry at the time of use, nevertheless my invention includesalso ungummed labels in roll or strip form provided with my depressibleareas, which labels can thus be properly dispensed from a dispensingmachine and can thereafter be made adhesive by coating the unprintedside with liquid paste or glue immediately before being applied to apackage.

While I have illustrated and described in detail certain preferredembodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that changes may bemade therein and the invention embodied in other structures; I do nottherefore desire to limit myself to the specific constructionillustrated, but intend to cover my invention broadly in whatever formits principle may be utilized.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a roll of gummed printed labelshaving U-shaped tongues out therein with the tongues pointing away fromthe direction of unrolling of said roll. said tongues being uniformlyplaced with relation to the printed label areas, and each being entirelywithin the area of an individual label.

2. A roll or strip of adhesive paper tape having a design or legendreproduced in repeat thereon and having registering portions formedtherein in predetermined position in relation to the successive repeats,said registering portions comprising weakened depressible gummed areaswhich are substantially invisible when the tape is affixed to thearticle to which it is applied, said areas being located entirely withinthe area of an individual label when said label is severed from saidroll.

3. A roll or strip of gummed paper tape having a design or legendreproduced in repeat thereon and having registering portions formedtherein in predetermined relation to the successive repeats, saidregistering portions consisting of gummed depressible tongues cut fromthe material of the tape and adapted to be normally maintained insubstantial alignment with the plane of the paper by the resiliency ofthe paper, said tongues being so placed with respect to the printedrepeats that when the tape is severed between successive repeats, thetongue or tongues in the severed portion will be located entirely withinthe area severed.

ALFRED P. KRUEGER.

